Breathe and Count Back From Ten
HarperCollins · Paperback · October 3, 2023
A Pura Belpré Honor Book * A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book for Teens In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body.
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- Who it’s for
- A tender, grounded coming-of-age story about disability, desire, family, and claiming space in your own body.
- Themes
- Disability and bodily autonomy, Family expectations and secrecy, First romance
- Genres
- Disabilities & Special Needs for Teens, Mermaid Stories for Teens, Hispanic & Latino YA
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Start with this bookAbout this book
A Pura Belpré Honor Book * A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book for Teens In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body. Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability.
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The best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool, but not just to strengthen her body. Her Florida town is home to Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks . . . and Verónica wants to audition. But her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it. And they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her cute new neighbor. She decides it’s time to seize control of her life, but her plans come crashing down when she learns her parents have been hiding the truth from her—the truth about her own body.
Finding Her Own Current
A tender, grounded coming-of-age story about disability, desire, family, and claiming space in your own body.
Come here for
- A Peruvian-American teen’s vivid push toward independence
- Swimming, first love, and a mermaid audition in the mix
Expect
- An intimate focus on living with hip dysplasia
- Family tensions alongside questions of bodily autonomy
Where it sits
| Disabilities & Special Needs for Teens | 60% |
|---|---|
| Hispanic & Latino YA | 43% |
| Mermaid Stories for Teens | 38% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- YA Sibling Stories
- Mermaid Stories for Teens
- Hispanic & Latino YA
- Performing Arts for Teens
Show all 6 publisher categories
- Disabilities & Special Needs for Teens
- Finding Your Footing
- Authors
- Natalia Sylvester
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- October 3, 2023
- Format
- Paperback
- Theme
- Disability and bodily autonomy · Family expectations and secrecy · First romance
- Reading lane
- YA Sibling Stories